Page 62 of A Second Chance

He laughed. “Wow, don’t hold back.”

“Well, you’ve been through hell and now you deserve some happiness.”

Jason took several deep breaths. He wouldn’t cry in front of her, again. “I don’t know about deserve, cause your support has already been more than I ever deserved. But I’d like to be happy, so I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t justthinkabout it. You like her. Go get her.”

“She might not want me.”

Autumn scoffed. “She does. And I really think she’ll understand.”

He wasn’t so sure. But he nodded and stepped forward, wrapping Autumn in a hug.

Twenty-Three

The afternoon went by in a fog. A blend of the conversations she’d had with Nick and Autumn stampeded though her mind all afternoon. It all melded in her head and swirled into a mush and took her brain with it. It was a lot of information for one day. She collapsed on her couch in the quiet house, still fully dressed from work. The house sounded empty, no other cars were out front and she didn’t know where any of them were. Then the memory of her mother, naked in the backyard with some strange man crossed her mind, and she shuddered and tried to decide whether to ask her mom about it or try to forget it ever happened. She leaned toward forgetting. The problem with Avery however couldn’t get swept under the rug. She had no idea how to bring up that topic of conversation. Maybe slowly, with patience and love work her way up to asking why she didn’t want to move in with Nick.

She woke to the sound of Avery’s voice and a hand on her shoulder. Gwen sat up, she’d curled up on the end of the couch. She didn’t know how long she’d been out; the blurry room came into focus and her sister stared down at her, concern etched across her face.

“Hey,” Gwen said, shaking the cobwebs from her mind, the room was scorching hot.

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. Why would you ask that?”

“Cause you’re asleep, still wearing your jacket and shoes.”

That explained why she was hot. Gwen slid the jacket down her arms, dropping it on the seat behind her. Then tugged her shoes off. “Long day. I was so tired.”

“No kidding… Are you getting sick?” Avery stared down studying her.

“Don’t think so. Just a lot of… stuff today.”

“What happened?”

“Why don’t you want to move in with Nick?” Well, so much for easing into the conversation.

Avery’s mouth dropped and then she pressed her lips together. “Where…?” She dropped onto the sofa next to Gwen.

“I asked Nick if he was living here.”

“You didwhat? Why?”

“He’s always here, every morning. More often than not. I just want to know who is living here.”

Avery shook her head. “He has his own apartment. We don’t live together.”

Again, he was there all the time, so either she was in denial or just didn’t want to admit to Gwen. “Why not?”

“I live here.”

And so did Nick. Gwen nodded. “Yeah. I know Nick’s asked you to move in with him. And you guys are madly in love. And he’s camping here because he wants to be with you. So, do you really want to be with him?”

Avery gasped. “He’s here with me ’cause I want him to be, and I want to be here. Do you not want me here?”

“Yes, don’t be ridiculous. I want you to stay, and you’re welcome to as long as you want. Though generally people in serious relationships move in together on their own, and I know he’s asked you. Why are you saying no?”

Avery hesitated, opening her mouth and closing it back, looking around the room. “This is all I know,” she eventually said.

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